Walking through Empress Joliet a couple of weeks ago, I came across
a small blast from the past -- a $1 Double Down Stud video poker
machine.
I knew IGT had recently dressed up the game for its new gaming
platform, but I hadn't seen it in this market since, well ... ever.
Double Down Stud has always been a game with a small niche, and
operators in the Chicago area up till now haven't used valuable
gaming positions on it.
Double Down Stud is a bit of an odd duck among video poker games.
It's a five-card stud poker game with no draws, so there are fewer
decisions to make than in draw poker games. Strategy is far less
complex. The payback percentage on the first version of the game
was 97.8 percent with expert play. That's not going to impress a
video poker player who is used to 99-percent-plus pay tables, even
100-percent-plus games in Las Vegas and a few other markets.
That payback percentage didn't even impress table games players
in the early-to-mid-1990s. A 97.8 percent payback percentage is the
same as saying a game has a 2.2 percent house edge, and when Double
Down Stud started life as a table game, players weren't buying it.
Why play it as a video poker game? Even though its theoretical
payback percentage is lower than those on many other video poker
games, that return is much more attainable on Double Down Stud for
most players. We say that 10-7-5 Double Bonus Poker (paying off
10-for-1 on full houses, 7-for-1 on flushes and 5-for-1 on
straights) is a 100.17 percent game with expert play, but strategy
is difficult and for most players the return is going to be closer
to 95 to 97 percent. Double Down Stud strategy is easier, and most
players will come closer to the theoretical return even though they
won't hit as many royal flushes -- royals are much rarer in stud
poker than in draw.
In Double Down Stud, after the player bets, four cards are dealt.
Before receiving the fifth card the player has the option of
doubling the bet. In the original version, payoffs were 1-for-1 on
a pair of 6s through 10s; 2-for-1 on a pair of Jacks through Aces;
3-for-1 on two pair; 4-for-1 on three of a kind; 6-for-1 on a
straight; 9-for-1 on a flush; 12-for-1 on a full house; 50-for-1 on
four of a kind; 200-for-1 on a straight flush, and 1,000-for-1 on a
royal flush, with the royal climbing to 2,000-for-1 on initial bets
of 10 coins or more.
Strategy couldn't be simpler. Double your bet before the fifth card
if you have a hand that already is a winner. Also double if you
have four cards to a flush or four to an open-ended straight.
That pay table still is offered by the manufacturer, but in
dressing up the new release of Double Down Stud, IGT added some
wrinkles. Now there are pay tables that start at a pair of 7s, 8s
or any pair as well as a pair of 6s. There are Double Double Bonus,
Deuces Wild, Deuces Wild Bonus and Joker Poker versions of Double
Down Stud. And there are several pay tables for each, with
theoretical returns ranging from 90.8 percent on the worst version
of 8s or better on up to 100.2 percent on the best version of 6s or
better.
Empress stayed pretty conservative in choosing the games for its
foray into Double Down Stud -- no funky Double Double Bonus, Bonus,
Deuces or Deuces Bonus games. You need no strategy twists to play
these; stick with the strategy for the original games.
On the Empress pay tables, theoretical returns are 96.0 percent on
6s or better; 96.8 percent on 7s or better; 95.3 percent on 8s or
better, and 97.0 percent on one pair or better. That doesn't make
Double Down Stud the best game in the house, but it's an easy
alternative for those wanting a break from more complex video poker
games.
TIME TO SPLIT: From Leading Edge Design, inventors of the popular
Multi Strike Poker game, comes word that its new Big Split Poker
game has started to make its way into casinos. It hasn't reached
the Chicago area yet, but those planning Las Vegas vacations can
see it at New York-New York, MGM Grand, the Orleans and Terrible's,
and it's also available at the Atlantis in Reno.
Big Split is another easy alternative to draw poker games. There
are several pay tables, but in each, on the initial deal, the
player receives eight cards, which the player then must arrange
into a five-card hand and a three-card hand. The five-card hand
determines a payback, and the three-card hand determines a
multiplier. Multiply the five-card winnings by the three-card
multiplier and you get an overall return for the hand.
In the variation just called "Big Split," the pay table for the
five-card hand starts at two pair, with the higher pair being Jacks
or better. The multiplier hand must be at least a high card. The
game tells you whether you have a winner before you arrange the
cards -- if no winner is possible, the game is over and you move to
the next hand.
How you arrange them can make a difference. In some cases, you'll
get more money by settling for a lesser top hand to take a bigger
multiplier on the bottom.
Big Split Poker is available to play free online. Just go to
www.bigsplitpoker.com to familiarize yourself with the game
before you try it in a casino.
